The present invention is a modification of the femoral compression devices disclosed in the patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,811 and EP 0 462 088 B1, which are assigned to the present assignee and which claim priority from SE 9002077 and SE 9003271. A femoral compression device according to these publications comprises basically a pressure device for compressive bearing against a puncture site at a femoral artery of a patient (the puncture being made to access the patient's vascular system for various procedures), a belt adapted to be fixed around the patient's body, and a base plate supporting the pressure device and being provided with two extensions. The pressure device according to these publications is a pneumatic device in the form of an inflatable air cushion or balloon, different embodiments of which have also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,427, WO 94/05221, WO 98/34547 and U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/355,736, 10/209,974 and 10/235,859, which all are assigned to the present assignee. In U.S. application Ser. No. 10/322,809, which also is assigned to the present assignee, the pressure device is instead in the form of a coil spring, which is connected to a compression member being adapted for compressive bearing against a puncture site at a femoral artery. All of the documents cited in this paragraph are incorporated herein by reference.
During use of a femoral compression device according to the publications mentioned above, the inflatable air cushion or compression member is positioned over a femoral artery of a patient, and the belt, which extends from the end of the first extension, around the patient's body and to the end of the second extension, is tightened. Then, the pressure device is actuated to thereby apply compression pressure such that the femoral artery is compressed in order to prevent bleeding through a puncture hole being made in the artery wall. Usually, the compression procedure involves a short initial compression (for 1-5 minutes) at a relatively high pressure (usually above the systolic pressure) followed by a longer post-compression (for 3-120 minutes) at a lower pressure (usually below the diastolic pressure). Consequently, a femoral compression device and its accompanying pressure device must be able to operate within a fairly large pressure range, going from about 30 mmHg to about 250 mmHg. Because of this large operating range and for reasons to be discussed below, the pressure device of the known femoral compression devices can be improved.